Essential Politics: Is it OK to invoke ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ at abortion rights protests?

When feminists protest, they often design signs and outfits to capture onlookers’ attention.

At marches, they don wire hangers to symbolize how abortions are sometimes performed when the procedure is outlawed. They wear pink pussy hats with cat ears in defiance of Donald Trump, who in a video leaked shortly before the 2016 election, said he wanted to grab women’s genitals. They also wear red capes and white caps to invoke Margret Atwood’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” a dystopic novel in which a Christian white patriarchy fiercely regulates women’s bodies.

Atwood’s novel has for years been used by liberal white feminists as a warning of what could come if evangelical Christians get their way in American politics. So it’s no surprise what happened after the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative majority last week overturned Roe vs. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion.

Many people began referencing the book, particularly on social media platforms. And they were greeted by sharp criticism — from women of color who urged people to stop referencing the book when discussing reproductive rights. Why?

Hello besties, I’m Erin B. Logan, a reporter with the L.A. Times. I cover the Biden-Harris administration. Today, we are going to discuss feminism, protesting methods and literature.

Arguments against wearing red

If you haven’t read Atwood’s novel (or watched the Hulu television show), here’s a quick rundown:

In the not-too-distant future, religious fanatics have destroyed American democracy and established a theocracy called Gilead, where people of color are presumably exiled. Male leaders are wary of lagging birth rates; so, in an effort to boost them, they force fertile white women to bear children for the powerful elite.

These women are called handmaidens, and they wear red capes and white hats, are forbidden to own property or to read and write. Handmaidens are assigned to rich men married to sterile women. The handmaids are raped by the husbands, in front of the wife, in the hopes of conceiving children. After birth, the children are eventually separated from the handmaidens, who are reassigned.

Unmarried women wear different colors to denote their status in society. All women in Gilead are required to be pious and subservient to men.

Since at least 2016, Atwood’s novel has frequently been used by protesters as a warning of what could happen if Trump became president. Just minutes after the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization became public, abortion rights supporters referenced the book.

Prolific horror novelist Stephen King tweeted “Welcome to THE HANDMAID’S TALE” while writer Julia Shaw tweeted that “it’s never a good sign when the Handmaid’s Tale becomes relevant again.”

But some felt such references were pretty callous.

Many women of color pointed out that their ancestors, particularly those who were enslaved or forcibly sterilized, were treated in real life in the same way as Atwood’s handmaidens. There was no reason to reference fiction when history is much darker, they argued.

“I’m honestly just tired of hearing about Handmaid’s tale because I see white women pushing it the most, like it’s the only instance they can imagine when women don’t have autonomy over their own bodies,” one user tweeted. “When history books are right there…”

Another user tweeted: “I’m assuming that all y’all whose first instinct was to evoke the Handmaid’s Tale after the Dobbs decision either didn’t know or didn’t care about the long ass history of medical (& other) injustice/maltreatment specifically directed at Black, Latin(x), Indigenous, & Trans women.”

Alicia Sanchez Gill saw one of her old tweets, which urged people to stop using the book as an admonition, resurface.

“When white women reference the “Handmaid’s Tale” as warning of an apocalyptic future, instead of a factual historical record, I know they *haven’t listened to Black and Indigenous women or done the readings.*” Gill tweeted in 2020. “Everything in the book and show has already happened to Black women.”

In an interview, Gill expressed frustration with the frequent invocation of Atwood’s book (the author declined to comment through a spokeswoman).

“I don’t think there’s a problem with enjoying a show,” she said. “We’re allowed to have joy and express outrage in the ways that makes sense for us. But when we rely too heavily on ‘The Handmaid’s Tale,’ which ignores the presence of race and racism, it really dehumanizes and dismisses our collective experiences of reproductive trauma.”

The trauma, she says, includes the frequent sexual violence endured by enslaved women on American plantations in the South and the forced sterilization of women in Puerto Rico throughout the 20th century amid undisclosed birth control trials.

“Using The Handmaid’s Tale as a continued metaphor says to me that when these things were happening to folks of color, they cannot fully empathize,” she said.

Why they wear red

Kelli Midgley was angry when Trump assumed the presidency in 2017 and worried in particular how it might lead to restrictions on abortion. So the 54-year-old began protesting at the Capitol Complex.

A fan of Atwood’s work, she began wearing a red handmaid costume to protests and eventually founded the Handmaids Army DC, an advocacy group. Through her group, she organized protests, including at Brett Kavanaugh‘s confirmation hearing in 2018. She believed it was an effective technique. It caught people’s attention and provided an outlet for people who wanted to protest anonymously.

“If you want to spread your message widely, wearing the red robe in front of white marble steps is certainly a way to attract photographers,” she said.

Midgley said she understands the criticism of her tactics by women of color and when her group attends larger protests, like ones organized by the Women’s March, they leave the costumes at home, when requested by organizers.

But, she said, dressing in handmaid garb remains “a way to attract the attention that speaks to an awful lot of people and carries a message that is instantly recognizable.”

“It is shorthand for a future without reproductive freedom that a lot of people fear,” she said

“We are trying to reach a broader audience for people who need this message,” she said. “We don’t need to tell Black women that their rights are endangered.”

“They always have been,” she said.

The fallout from overturning Roe vs. Wade

—The Supreme Court “should reconsider” rulings that rely on the same legal reasoning as Roe vs. Wade, including those that protect gay sex, same-sex marriage and married people’s use of contraception, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote in a concurring opinion released Friday. Times writer Erin B. Logan (that’s me!) reported that Thomas signed on to the majority opinion but wrote separately that he hoped the high court would reexamine cases that rely on substantive due process, the idea that the Constitution protects certain rights its text doesn’t explicitly mention. Thomas has repeatedly cast doubt on this legal principle, calling it an “oxymoron that ‘lack[s] any basis in the Constitution.’”

—Vice President Kamala Harris said Monday that the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade is likely to endanger other rights, including those of gay marriage and birth control, Times writer Freddy Brewster reported. She said Thomas, who cast doubt on those rights in a concurring opinion, was merely saying “the quiet part out loud” as the court’s conservative wing increasingly asserts itself.

—Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Friday that immediately protects abortion providers in California from liability when caring for patients traveling from areas where the procedure is now banned or access is narrowed, Times writer Melody Gutierrez reported. Assembly Bill 1666 will protect providers and patients in California from civil liability judgements based on claims made in antiabortion states. Newsom said the law will push back against Republican states that allow private lawsuits against abortion providers and patients.

— California voters will in November decide whether the state Constitution should explicitly protect a person’s right to an abortion and birth control, Times writer Melody Gutierrez reported. The Democratic-controlled Legislature on Monday gave final approval to put the issue before the voters. If approved, the measure would further cement the state’s already progressive laws and rules regarding reproductive rights.

The view from Washington

—President Trump lunged at a Secret Service agent, putting his hand on the man’s throat after he was told he would not be taken to the Capitol during riots on Jan. 6, 2021, according to testimony by a former White House aide, Times writer Freddy Brewster reported. Cassidy Hutchinson testified before the Jan. 6 committee that Trump moved to the front of the presidential limo and reached toward the steering wheel. That’s when the head of his Secret Service detail, Bobby Engle, grabbed the president’s hand off of the steering wheel, she testified.

—A lawyer who aided Trump’s efforts to undo the 2020 election results said in a federal court filing Monday that federal agents seized his cellphone last week, the Associated Press reported. John Eastman said the agents took his phone as he left a restaurant last Wednesday evening. In a filing in federal court in New Mexico, Eastman challenged the legitimacy of the warrant.

—The Supreme Court on Monday sided with a former high school football coach who prayed at the 50-yard line after games, ruling that his public prayers were protected as free speech and free exercise of religion, Times writer David G. Savage reported. The 6-3 decision is a victory for those who seek a larger role for prayer and religion in public schools and a blow to those who have fought to keep religion out of public schools.

—Houston-area Sheriff Ed Gonzalez has withdrawn from consideration to be director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, The Associated Press reported. Biden tapped Gonzalez for the ICE director’s post in April 2021. The Senate has not confirmed any nominee for the ICE directorship since 2017.

The view from the campaign trail

—GOP Rep. David Valadao, who voted to impeach Trump for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, has survived the California primary and will advance to the general election, Times writer Seema Mehta reported. Valadao will face Assemblymember Rudy Salas, a moderate Democrat, in the general election. The 22nd Congressional District was already tilted blue; but after redistricting, Democrats have a 17-point voter registration edge.

—Wyoming GOP primary voters will decide on Aug. 16 if Rep. Liz Cheney will return to Washington, Times writer Arit John reported. On its face, the primary is about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, creating a rift that has fractured friendships, families and communities across the state. But it’s also about values, and what it means to live up to them as a public official. The choice voters make will send a clear signal about what the state stands for.

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Programming note: We’ll be taking Friday off for the holiday weekend. See you next week!